Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Find My Home, our new choice-based lettings system. What is Find My Home and how does the system work? Find My Home is an online choice-based letting system which allows applicants to choose which properties they want to apply for. It is a partnership between Queens Cross Housing Association and Maryhill Housing, where applicants can complete one housing application to be registered with both landlords. Queens Cross and Maryhill Housing will advertise available homes on www.findmyhome.org.uk and registered applicants who are interested in the property can place a bid. This means that they are noting their interest in the property. When the advert ends, we will review everyone who has bid for the property, sorted in order of their suitability for the property and their housing priority and we will offer the property to the first suitable applicant on the list. If there is an applicant with equal priority for the property, the applicant who has been on the list the longest will be offered the property. Our current system uses a points-based waiting list system where applicants are given a range of points depending on their circumstances. In addition, applicants tell us what areas they want to live in and what property types they want to be considered for. An offer of accommodation is normally made to an applicant at the point that they are at the top of the list when the property and area criteria they have chosen becomes available. A choice-based lettings system offers applicants more choice and freedom in deciding what properties they want to be considered for and provides more transparency on the level of demand and the properties which become available. Why are you changing? We consulted with tenants and housing applicants in 2023, and 73% of the people who responded were in favour of moving to a choice-based lettings system. The benefits of a choice-based lettings system over a waiting list system are: More choice – you can choose which properties to apply for. More control over your application – you can apply online and then view and make changes to your application at any time. Greater transparency – you can see what properties we have available and your chances of being offered each property. Supporting information, etc can be uploaded online to your application and there is no requirement to send in this information or bring it into the office and this provides more flexibility to the applicant in managing their application. By working in partnership with Queens Cross Housing Association, applicants also benefit from: Only completing one application form to be registered with two Housing Associations Having access to a greater number of properties that they can bid for. What if I don’t have the internet or don’t know how to use it? The Find My Home online system can be accessed on a PC, laptop, tablet or smart phone and can be used over Wi-Fi or mobile data. We will have staff available to help applicants who do not have access to the internet or do not feel comfortable using an online system. Available properties will be advertised online; however, we will also make the information available in the following ways: Applicants can call us to find out what we are advertising that week. We can send the applicant an email when a property is being advertised that meets their needs and is in an area where they want to live. If an applicant isn’t using the online system and wants to place a bid, they can contact us by telephone, and we can place the bid on their behalf. We can also set up their account so that the system will automatically bid on their behalf for the property types and areas that they want to be considered for. When will the new system be available? Maryhill Housing will launch on Find My Home in early June 2024. We will contact our existing housing applicants, including transfer applicants, in advance of this date to explain what steps they need to take to move onto the new system. We may not begin advertising our properties until a few weeks later, to allow time for applicants to move to the Find My Home system. How do I register? Maryhill Housing will launch on Find My Home in early June 2024, and we will let you know when you can register and explain what you need to do. After this date, anybody looking for housing can register online by visiting www.findmyhome.org.uk and clicking on the ‘Register’ button. People who do not have access to the internet or do not feel comfortable using it can contact us and we will assist them. How do applicants update their details if their circumstances change? Applicants can view their application by visiting www.findmyhome.org.uk and logging in using their unique username and password. They can also make changes to their application if their circumstances change. Once they have made the necessary changes, we will review their application again to make sure we have all the information we need. Existing applicants – What will happen with my current application, and do I need to register again? Applicants who are currently on the Association’s housing list will be contacted to let them know how to move their application to the Find My Home system. Applicants who are on our housing list but who aren’t already registered on Find My Home will be required to complete a new application form on the Find My Home website, however they will keep their original application date so that they are not starting from scratch and the time that they have already been registered with the Association is recognised. Applicants who are already registered on Find My Home will not need to do anything. We will check the date of the housing application with Maryhill Housing. If the date is earlier than the date registered on the Find My Home application, the application will be registered on the Find My Home system with the earliest date. Existing applicants - Why do I need to give my details again? We have improved the application form so that we gather all the information necessary to determine an applicant’s housing needs. We will ask some questions that we haven’t asked before, so we need all applicants to complete the new application form to ensure that we have all the information we need. This will also mean that we start the application with the correct information, and that everything is up to date. How do I bid for properties? When Queens Cross or Maryhill Housing have an available property, we will place an advert on Find My Home. The advert will run for a period of one week, from Wednesday at 12pm (lunchtime) to the following Wednesday at 12pm. The advert will detail the property location, property type and size, details of the property features and will include photographs and other important information. It will clearly state which Housing Association the property belongs to. Applicants who have registered with us will be required to log in using their unique username and password in order to place a bid. When logged in, applicants will only be able to bid for properties which meet their needs. For example, if they require a three bedroom property, they will only be able to bid for properties that have three bedrooms. When logged in, applicants will be able to see a list of their current bids and a list of their previous bids. If they change their mind about a bid, they can remove it as long as the property advert is still running. It is important to note that applicants can only place a bid for a property if they are registered on the Find My Home System. How many properties can I bid for? There is no limit to the number of properties that applicants can bid for each week. What properties can I bid for? Applicants can bid for any properties that meet their needs and criteria. When someone registers with Find My Home, we will be able to determine the size of property they require based on the size of their household. Applicants are then able to bid for properties of that size. We will also determine if an applicant has any specific needs, e.g. wet floor shower or a wheelchair property etc., and only applicants in need of this type of accommodation will be allowed to bid. Applicants will be classified as either a Home Mover or a Home Seeker: Home Movers are tenants of Queens Cross Housing Association or Maryhill Housing who are looking to move to another property. Home Seekers are applicants who do not currently live in a Queens Cross Housing Association or Maryhill Housing property but would like to apply for a home with us. When we advertise a property, we may say whether it is for Home Movers, Home Seekers or both categories. We do this so that we can make sure that we are meeting our allocation targets. Do I have to accept a property if I have bid for it and I am offered it? The property adverts contain a lot of information to help applicants decide whether the property is suitable for them and will meet their needs. We encourage all applicants to read the advert details carefully and to only bid for a property if they are likely to accept an offer of housing if an offer were made. While applicants who have bid for a property do not have to accept an offer of the property, their priority band may be reduced if they refuse reasonable offers, so applicants should only bid for properties that they are definitely interested in. The adverts run for one week which gives the applicant time to consider the information on the advert and ask us any questions about the property before placing a bid. How many offers of accommodation can I refuse? Priority awards will be reviewed regularly and may be downgraded if applicants refuse offers of suitable housing that meet their needs. This is why it is important for applicants to review the property advertised fully and be sure before they bid for a property. Refusing offer an offer of accommodation may result in an applicant’s priority band being downgraded. Applicants with a platinum priority band will normally be made one offer of a suitable property before their band is downgraded. Applicants with gold or silver priority will normally be made two offers of a property that meets their needs before their band is downgraded. What happens if a bid is unsuccessful? Applicants can log in to www.findmyhome.org.uk to view their previous bids and the status of those bids. If the bid has been unsuccessful then the status will show as ‘Bid Lost’. This means that the property has been offered to another applicant. What if an applicant doesn’t place any bids? An applicant can only be offered a property that they have placed a bid for. If they don’t place any bids, they will remain registered with us but will not be offered a property. We will contact applicants who have not logged into the system or placed a bid annually to check that they still wish to remain registered with us. Why are you changing from priority points to priority bands? On our current waiting list system, we award priority points to applicants who need to move as their current home is not suitable. The numbers of points awarded depends on the applicant’s circumstances. Applicants are told how many points they have been awarded but do not know how this compares to other applicants. We are moving to a priority banding system where applicants can be awarded platinum, gold, silver or bronze priority depending on their housing need. This should make it easier for applicants to understand how applications are prioritised and how their priority compares to other applicants. This will also give them an indication of how long they may need to wait before an offer is made. Existing applicants – will my priority change? Applicants will no longer be awarded priority points but will be awarded a priority band in line with the new policy, and this means that there may be a change to the priority given to your application . When an application form is completed on Find My Home, we will assess the applicant’s circumstances and will decide which priority band they should be awarded. Their priority band will be displayed, and applicants will receive confirmation of this when they log into their account. What are the priority bands and what is the criteria for each band? We are introducing four priority bands – Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. These priority bands will be awarded in the following situations: Priority Band Who will be awarded this band? Platinum Current QCHA or Maryhill Housing tenants who need to move urgently for their own safety (i.e., when they are experiencing domestic abuse, hate crime or serious harassment) Applicants who have an exceptional housing need which is so unusual that it is not covered by our allocation policy Applicants in receipt of a QCHA Wellbeing service (Wellbeing Housing First for Young People, Wellbeing for Good Mental Health, Wellbeing for people aged 60+) where it has been recognised that they would benefit from moving due to their specific support needs. QCHA or Maryhill Housing tenants who require to be rehoused due to regeneration activity (i.e., their home is being demolished) Gold Applicants who are homeless and have been referred to us by Glasgow Council Applicants who are leaving care and have been referred to us by the Social Work department Applicants with complex medical conditions or disabilities where their property does not meet their needs Social landlord tenants who are under-occupying their property by two or more bedrooms and want to downsize Applicants who are overcrowded by two or more bedrooms Applicants whose property has been assessed as being Below a Tolerable Standard by the Local Authority Silver Current QCHA or Maryhill Housing tenants who have experienced a relationship breakdown Applicants leaving active service with the Armed Forces Applicants who live in unsuitable housing due to a medical condition/disability but are not housebound and their life is not at risk due to their current housing. Social landlord tenants who are under-occupying their property by one bedroom and want to downsize Applicants who are overcrowded by one bedroom Applicants who need to move to be near relatives for support, to access medical treatment, for employment purposes or due to financial hardship Private rented tenants who are at risk of losing their home Private rented tenants whose property is in a poor condition Applicants who are experiencing relationship strain in their household Vulnerable tenants who are experiencing Anti-Social Behaviour Applicants who are sofa-surfing or living in temporary accommodation Bronze Applicants who are assessed with none of the above housing needs but consider they are unsuitably housed Are Maryhill Housing and Queens Cross merging? Or is one association taking over the other one? No, we are working in partnership with Queens Cross Housing Association so that applicants can complete one application form to be registered with both landlords. This makes it easier for applicants who are looking to live in the North West of Glasgow as it reduces the number of housing applications they need to complete. It also means they can see the available properties of both landlords in one place. What if I only want to be registered with one of the housing associations and not the other one? Find My Home is a shared system, and so, applicants will be automatically registered with Queens Cross and Maryhill Housing when they complete an application form. It is not possible to be registered with only one of the housing associations and not the other. Once registered, applicants can choose which properties they want to bid for. Every property advert will clearly show which housing association the property belongs to, so applicants can choose which landlord’s properties to apply for.